Shark Week 2023: What sharks can you find on the Treasure Coast?

Summer is synonymous with hot weather, beaches and Shark Week.

With 70 miles of coastline, sharks are no strangers to the Treasure Coast. To prepare for Shark Week, here are some facts about what sharks swim Treasure Coast waters and shark bites.

What sharks swim along the Treasure Coast?

Whether you're at the Fort Pierce Jetty or any Stuart beach, it is not uncommon to see a shark. With more than 500 species swimming in the ocean, these are just a few of the species found off the Treasure Coast.

• Nurse sharks

• Lemon sharks

• Blacktip sharks

• Tiger sharks

• Spinner sharks

• Bull sharks

• Sandbar sharks

While there have been some sightings of more well-known shark species, like hammerheads and great whites, they're not that common along Treasure Coast shores.

In January 2022, Sable, an 800-pound great white shark, was swimming about 20 miles off of Vero Beach.

She was tagged by OCEARCH, a nonprofit that tracks and researches aquatic creatures for the purposes of conservation. Locations and names of the tagged animals are on its website and updated whenever a tracker "pings," which happens when an animal breaks the surface.

How likely is a shark attack?

Only five fatal shark bites were reported in 2022, according to Statista.

The Florida Museum of Natural History released a list of incidents more fata than shark bites. Here are a few:

• Drowning: 3,306 annual deaths; 1 in 1,134 chance of fatality

• Sun/heat exposure: 273 annual deaths, 1 in 13,729 chance of fatality

• Lightning strike: 47 annual deaths; 1 in 79,746 chance of fatality

Shark bites on the Treasure Coast

Florida is regarded as the shark bite capital of the world. New Smyrna Beach, more than 100 miles north of the Treasure Coast in Volusia County, has had the most shark bites since 1982, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. New Smyrna Beach is more than 100 miles north of the Treasure Coast.

There have been three known shark bites in Martin and St. Lucie County this year. Check out TCPalm's database, which tracks shark bites since 1998.

Where to watch Shark Week?

The Discovery Channel has been home to Shark Week for 35 years. The annual week-long program airs Sunday through July 29 with actor Jason Momoa hosting.

Momoa will guide Shark Week viewers through highlights of nearly 20 hours of new footage showcasing the predators in their natural habitat, according to Discovery.

Click here for the scheduled programming.

Shark Week drew more than 28 million viewers last year. This year it will spotlight innovative tracking technology and showcase the work of world-renowned marine biologists and science institutions.

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on Twitter @gonthescene.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Shark Week 2023 what sharks are on the Treasure Coast